1985–86 John Player Special Trophy

This was the fifteenth season of the competition. The League Cup was again known as the John Player Special Trophy this season for sponsorship reasons.

1985–86 John Player Special Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams36
WinnersWigan
Runners-upHull Kingston Rovers

Wigan won the final, beating Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 11-8. The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds. The attendance was 17,573 and receipts were £66714.

Background

This season saw several changes in the entrants :-
1 Bridgend Blue Dragons and Southend Invicta both folded
2 and the invitation to two junior clubs continued
This involved a decrease in entrants to thirty-six, in turn resulting in a 4 match, 8 club preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs taking part in the first round proper to thirty-two
There were no drawn matches throughout the tournament

Competition and results

[1][2]

Preliminary round

[3] Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sun 10 Nov 1985Carlisle6-24Rochdale HornetsBrunton Park752
2Sun 10 Nov 1985Featherstone Rovers10-14WarringtonPost Office Road1803[4]
3Sun 10 Nov 1985Keighley24-6Jubilee Hotel (Featherstone)Lawkholme Lane10071
4Sun 10 Nov 1985West Hull10-24CastlefordBoulevard25002

Round 1 - First Round

[3] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 23 Nov 1985Halifax2-11Hull Kingston RoversThrum Hall4147
2Sun 24 Nov 1985Barrow5-2LeedsCraven Park4886
3Sun 24 Nov 1985Batley2-70LeighMount Pleasant15433
4Sun 24 Nov 1985Blackpool Borough22-24Wakefield TrinityBorough Park683[5]
5Sun 24 Nov 1985Bramley8-46OldhamMcLaren Field2738
6Sun 24 Nov 1985Doncaster22-20Runcorn HighfieldBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield375
7Sun 24 Nov 1985Fulham13-20WarringtonChiswick Poly Sports Grd1493[4]
8Sun 24 Nov 1985Hunslet20-12Workington TownElland Road726
9Sun 24 Nov 1985Keighley20-10Huddersfield BarracudasLawkholme Lane12644[6]
10Sun 24 Nov 1985St. Helens42-6DewsburyKnowsley Road5364[7]
11Sun 24 Nov 1985Salford18-12Rochdale HornetsThe Willows2844
12Sun 24 Nov 1985Sheffield Eagles16-24Bradford NorthernOwlerton Stadium1342
13Sun 24 Nov 1985Whitehaven7-12WidnesRecreation Ground3097[2]
14Sun 24 Nov 1985Wigan26-0Mansfield MarksmanCentral Park100405[2]
15Sun 24 Nov 1985York12-10CastlefordClarence Street3765
16Sun 27 Nov 1985Hull F.C.44-0SwintonBoulevard3797[8]

Round 2 - Second Round

[9] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 30 Nov 1985Widnes30-6Bradford NorthernNaughton Park2222[10]
2Sun 1 Dec 1985Hull F.C.30-10SalfordBoulevard5659[8]
3Sun 1 Dec 1985Hull Kingston Rovers8-7OldhamCraven Park (1)7069
4Sun 1 Dec 1985Leigh48-6HunsletHilton Park3267
5Sun 1 Dec 1985St. Helens36-20DoncasterKnowsley Road4092[7]
6Sun 1 Dec 1985Wakefield Trinity21-30WiganBelle Vue7360[2][5]
7Sun 1 Dec 1985Warrington34-14BarrowWilderspool3705[4]
8Sun 1 Dec 1985York21-16KeighleyClarence Street2511

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

[11] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 7 Dec 1985Warrington22-26WiganWilderspool6737[2][4]
2Sun 8 Dec 1985Hull Kingston Rovers24-16YorkCraven Park (1)6228
3Sun 8 Dec 1985Widnes31-35LeighNaughton Park6153[10]
4Wed 11 Dec 1985St. Helens57-14HullKnowsley Road7536[7][8]

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 14 Dec 1985Wigan36-8LeighKnowsley Road10509[2]
2Sat 21 Dec 1985Hull Kingston Rovers22-4St. HelensHeadingley3856[7]

Final
Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 11 January 1986Wigan11-8Hull Kingston RoversElland Road17573667146[8][13][14][15]

Teams and scorers

[14][15][16]

Wigan № Hull Kingston Rovers
teams
Steve Hampson1John Lydiat
Ray Mordt2Garry Clark
David Stephenson3Mike Smith
Ellery Hanley4John Dorahy
Henderson Gill5David Laws
Steve Ella6Gordon Smith
Mike Ford7Paul Harkin
Greg Dowling8Peter Johnston
Nicky Kiss9David Watkinson
Shaun Wane10Asuquo "Zook" Ema
Graeme West11Chris Burton
Andy Goodway12Andy Kelly
Ian Potter13Gavin Miller
Shaun Edwards (for Henderson Gill on 74th minute)14Ian Robinson (for Peter Johnston 74 min)
Nick Du Toit (for Ian Potter Half Time)15? Not used
Colin Clarke and Alan McInnesCoachRoger Millward
11score8
7HT4
Scorers
Tries
Mike Ford (1)TJohn Lydiat (1)
Shaun Wane (1)TDavid Laws (1)
Goals
David Stephenson (1)G
Drop Goals
Greg Dowling (1)DG
RefereeJohn Holdsworth (Kippax)
Man of the matchPaul Harkin - Hull KR - scrum-half
Competition SponsorJohn Player Special

Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-

Finish Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner?1?
Runner-up?1?
semi-finalist?2?
loser in Rd 3?4?
loser in Rd 2?8?
Loser in Rd 1?16?
Loser in Prelim Round???
Grand Total

Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semifinals Final
               
Fulham 13
Warrington 20
Warrington 34
Barrow 14
Barrow 5
Leeds 2
Warrington 22
Wigan 26
Blackpool Borough 22
Wakefield Trinity 24
Wakefield Trinity 21
Wigan 30
Wigan 26
Mansfield Marksman 0
Wigan 36
Leigh 8
Whitehaven 7
Widnes 12
Widnes 30
Bradford Northern 6
Sheffield Eagles 16
Bradford Northern 24
Widnes 31
Leigh 35
Batley 2
Leigh 70
Leigh 48
Hunslet 6
Hunslet 22
Workington Town 12
Wigan 11
Hull Kingston Rovers 8
Halifax 2
Hull Kingston Rovers 11
Hull Kingston Rovers 8
Oldham 7
Bramley 8
Oldham 46
Hull Kingston Rovers 24
York 16
York 12
Castleford 10
York 21
Keighley 16
Keighley 20
Huddersfield Barracudas 10
Hull Kingston Rovers 22
St. Helens 4
St. Helens 42
Dewsbury 6
St. Helens 36
Doncaster 20
Doncaster 22
Runcorn Highfield 20
St. Helens 57
Hull 14
Hull 44
Swinton 0
Hull 30
Salford 10
Salford 18
Rochdale Hornets 12

Notes and comments

1 * Jubilee Hotel are a Junior (amateur) club from Featherstone
2 * West Hull are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull
3 * highest score, highest score by away team, and highest winning margin - all between professional clubs, to date
4 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Huddersfield Heritage[6] give the score as 20-10 but Wigan official archives[2] gives it as 20-18
5 * Mansfield Marksman have moved from Mansfield and are now playing at North Street, Alfreston
6 * Elland Road, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds United A.F.C. with a capacity of 37,914 (The record attendance was 57,892 set on 15 March 1967 for a cup match Leeds v Sunderland). The ground was originally established in 1897 by Holbeck RLFC who played there until their demise after the conclusion of the 1903-04 season

See also

References
  1. "Rugby League Project".
  2. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 archived results".
  4. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  5. "Wakefield until I die".
  6. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  7. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  8. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  9. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 2 archived results".
  10. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  11. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 3 archived results".
  12. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player SF archived results".
  13. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Final archived results".
  14. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  15. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  16. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
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